Fannie Mae plans to sell its headquarters building in Washington

Fannie Mae plans to sell its Washington, D.C., headquarters building within the next three years as it consolidates several office locations, according to an e-mailed statement.

The mortgage-finance company has space in five owned and leased buildings in the area, including its headquarters at 3900 Wisconsin Ave. Fannie Mae would prefer to lease in a single location in downtown Washington, Keosha Burns, a spokeswoman, said in the statement.

"This move comes ahead of the expiration of two leases on buildings that house many of our employees in the district," Burns said. "We are focused on making responsible real estate decisions to ensure the wise use of resources, the safety and soundness of operations, and flexibility to adapt to changes in our future workplace needs."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, based in McLean, Virginia, provide liquidity to the mortgage market by buying loans and packaging them into guaranteed securities. The two companies, which are under U.S. conservatorship, are required to pay the government all of their earnings and aren't allowed to hold capital beyond a cushion of $2.4 billion each.